The Detroit Tigers right-hander was nearly unhittable during six innings Tuesday, limiting the Houston Astros to a bunt single by Brian Bogusevic in the third inning. He looked a lot like the Verlander of 2006 and '07, when he threw a no-hitter.

"Today you saw an outstanding major league pitcher," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said after a 1-1, 11-inning tie. "It's what he should be most of the time.

"He got into a great rhythm and had great concentration. He was in sync 99.9 percent of the time, was down in the zone with strike one and had the best curveball. We were talking in the dugout about how it was better than what he had all last year."

In 2008, Verlander was 11-17 with a 4.84 ERA. He never found the consistency he displayed in going 17-9 and 18-6 his first two seasons in the majors.

Even when Verlander did have his good stuff, he was haunted by high pitch counts last season. Just getting to the seventh inning became a rarity. But he needed only 68 pitches to cover six innings and likely would have gone nine innings against the Astros if not for the 75-pitch limit Detroit's starters have at this point in spring training.

"I was pleased with my velocity," Verlander said. "I was 95 to 96 (mph) with runners on base and a lot better than this time last year."

Verlander allowed four runs (two earned) over two innings in his previous outing against the New York Yankees while implementing changes in his delivery mechanics, but everything came together well this time.

"It came along better than I expected," he said. "I thought it would take two or three outings to get the muscle memory down.

"It was a good stride forward. I might not be perfect next time, but this was a good step."

Leyland recently said he had chosen his opening day starter but only would say it is Verlander, Armando Galarraga or Edwin Jackson. In this game, Verlander sure looked ready to match up with Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay in the April 6 opener at Toronto.

Verlander had two strikeouts and three walks and allowed his only run by walking Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee to start the fourth. Pence scored on an odd sacrifice popup to second baseman Placido Polanco, who slipped and fell after making the catch and flipped the ball toward first baseman Jeff Larish while prone on the grass.

Larish fired home just behind the sliding Pence. Polanco took a few seconds to get up but walked it off and stayed in the game. Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand, who ran onto the field with Leyland, said Polanco hit his head and was dazed for a brief time.

Former Tiger Brian Moehler pitched five innings of shutout ball for Houston, and Scott Sizemore's solo home run off reliever Gilbert De La Vara in the eighth inning tied it.

Detroit continued to get strong relief pitching. Casey Fien, Scott Williamson, Fu-te Ni, Eddie Bonine and Kyle Bloom each pitched a shutout inning and combined to allow only two hits and one walk.

Fien is a feisty competitor who has caught Leyland's eye. Fien got Miguel Tejada to ground out and Geoff Blum to pop out before walking Darin Erstad on a full count. It was his first walk in six innings of Grapefruit League pitching. He struck out Bogusevic to end the inning.

"Today he had a better breaking ball than he's had and threw more of them," Leyland said. "All managers like strike throwers.

"He likes to play. He's the (Will) Rhymes of the pitching staff."

Leyland on Monday termed second baseman Rhymes "one of the highlights of spring training for me" and admires his aggressive approach.

Ditto for Fien, who has a 1.50 ERA and one strikeout per inning.

"He's in the mix," Leyland said.

There are decisions to be made with opening day less than three weeks away.

"It's turning into a short spring training very shortly," Leyland said.